About Eritrea

Project

The government of Eritrea continues to show its strong support to the development of mining as an important sector of its national economy.

Population

5.8 million (2010 estimate)

Capital

Asmara

Currency

Nakfa (Pegged to the USD)

Time Zone

GMT + 3

Independence

1993

Politics

Single party state. No corruption. UN arms embargo / sanctions have no impact on Bisha or Nevsun

Culture

50% Islamic, 50% Christian

Languages

Tigrinya, Tigre, Arabic and English. English is rapidly becoming the language of business and education.

Geography

Eritrea is located in northeast Africa, between Sudan and Ethiopia. The country covers 121,000 km2 (47,000 miles2), about the size of New York state. Eritrea enjoys 1,150 km of Red Sea coastline, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Eritrea has major modern ports at Massawa and Assab with facilities for import and export of a wide range of products.

Infrastructure

Eritrea enjoys excellent infrastructure as related to the Bisha mine.

Port

Large active port at Massawa on Red Sea; one of the world's busiest shipping lanes

Roads

Paved road from Massawa through Asmara and then to within 50 km of site then flat hard pan to site

Power

Onsite power generation; diesel trucked in from Massawa

Water

Robust permitted groundwater sources

Air Service

Regular commercial jet service from Cairo, Istanbul and Dubai. Bisha site has government constructed airstrip.

Recent History

In 1900, Asmara became the capital of the Italian colony of Eritrea. In the late 1930s Italy invested heavily in Eritrea building infrastructure, factories and buildings; Asmara was called "Piccola Roma" (Little Rome). Today, many major buildings are of Italian origin, and shops still have Italian names (Bar Vittoria, Pasticceria Moderna, Casa del Formaggio, Ferramenta, etc.).

In 1941, British forces drove out the Italians and after World War II administered the territory under a UN mandate. In the year 1951, Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia as per UN resolution 390(A) that was adopted in December 1950. Ethiopia annexed Eritrea militarily in 1962.

Eritrea gained independence in 1993, after fighting for its freedom for over 30 years.

Economy

Eritrea is largely an agriculture based economy and one of the poorest nations in the world. The country's economy predominantly consists of: